Sebastian Vettel causes excitement ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix. Aston Martin driver leaves a drivers’ meeting and is penalized for it. The Heppenheimer is meanwhile not the only star who is in conflict with the new rulers of Formula 1.
A frustrated Sebastian Vettel leaves the Formula 1 driver’s session early and receives a penalty for it – but he is not alone with his anger: there has been a huge crunch between the pilots and the new rulers for a few weeks, Vettel’s departure in Spielberg was just the visible escalation in this matter. The main allegations: insufficient consistency and transparency in the application of the rules.
Since this year, the German Niels Wittich and the Portuguese Eduardo Freitas have alternated in the post of race director. They followed Michael Masi, who was also heavily criticized, but the double cast alone creates new problems. As part of the Austrian Grand Prix, Mercedes driver George Russell called for “more consistency in the penalties, we come to the race and have a different line-up than at the previous event”. It is difficult to get “simple answers”. Red Bull driver Sergio Perez also criticized “a certain inconsistency” and hopes for a “rhythm” in the cooperation.
Mercedes Motorsport Director Toto Wolff, who was not present at the driver meeting, also reports that the drivers are “frustrated” by the debates: “I hear that topics are being discussed that are not among the 50 most important.” Vettel left the Drivers Meeting early on Friday evening after a heated discussion, thereby violating the sporting regulations. The Aston Martin driver was sentenced to pay 25,000 euros, but the sanction was suspended for the rest of the season. The fact that Vettel then went to the race director and apologized had a mitigating effect.
